The Use of Reason is a blog that takes a common sense view of society and its problems. I try to look at things not from the standpoint of whether the issue has an R or a D next to it, but instead from the perspective of a rational human being trying to solve problems. Oddly enough, the common sense, practical perspective usually ends up being the conservative one. If you'd like a sane, average-Joe's point of view, check out the blog.

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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Wait... There's a Mexican in this race? Why Mitt Romney would be our first Mexican-American president

It's election day, the day our nation celebrates its greatest sacrament, the renewal of our democracy.(Okay, we're a republic, but we elect our representatives democratically.) Much ado has been made of having our first African-American president, and perhaps we were right to celebrate that aspect of things. Granted, I'd have hoped for a better individual to make that milestone, but at least we can say we've done it. Fait accompli, as it were.

Still, I wish we had elected someone of the caliber of a Colin Powell, Condi Rice, or even Alan Keyes. Okay, I threw Keyes in there because I voted for him in two Republican primaries, but any rational thinker must admit that he would have been a much better FBP (First Black President) than Barack Obama. He certainly would have done more to defeat stereotypes about the way African-Americans see their place in society.

Now we have the opportunity for another couple of historic accomplishments. We could, by electing Mitt Romney, elect both our first Mormon president and our first Mexican-American president.

Sure, Romney's a guero (Spanish for white guy), but his dad was born in Mexico, making him as Mexican-American as any other child of Mexican immigrants. You see, Mexico isn't a race; it's a country. There are Black, White, Native American, and Oriental Mexicans, just as there are U.S. citizens of all of those races. Granted, most Mexicans are mestizos, mixed-heritage people with Spanish and Aztec or Mayan roots. Sure, the Romneys moved to Mexico as the result of fleeing religious persecution, but there are still plenty of Romneys living in Mexico today.

Okay, you say, hold on a minute. His dad may be from Mexico, but that doesn't mean he was a real Mexican. Let's try that logic out to see how well it works. If an Asian immigrant to the United States has a child here, is that child not a real American? Well of course he is, we all chime in. So how is Romney's case different?

I think it would gall racists on both sides of the aisle to consider Mitt Romney our first Mexican-American president. Liberal racists define Mexicans as brown people with thick accents who are underprivileged and in need of social services. Right wing racists define Mexicans as drug-running border jumpers. Neither of those definitions fit Mitt Romney, making his "Mexicanity" a difficult thing for racists to wrap their tiny minds around.

Here's hoping I awaken tomorrow to news that we've elected out first Mexican-American president.